154 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



the resistance of the victim, can daunt the ravenous 

 captor. It will readily grasp an animal, which, if 

 endowed with similar strength, advantage, and reso- 

 lution, could certainly rend its body asunder. It will 

 endeavour to gorge itself with thrice the quantity of 

 food that its most capacious stomach is capable of re- 

 ceiving. Nothing is refused, provided it be of animal 

 substance. 



All the varieties of the smaller fishes, the fiercest of 

 the Crustacea, the most active Annelidans, and the 

 soft tenants of shells among the Mollusca, all fall a 

 prey to the Actinia. The flesh of terrestrial animals 

 is also greedily swallowed ; but this proves a less con- 

 genial aliment, for it is sometimes rejected. 



The remarkable voracity of this creature warns the 

 naturalist to beware of its presence among his collec- 

 tions, otherwise his most precious treasures will as- 

 suredly perish. Simple contact with the tentacula of 

 the Actinia is enough to seal their doom ; nay, some 

 animals, as if conscious of their inevitable fate, seem 

 paralysed by the touch, and yield without a struggle. 

 Others, whose size and strength should ensure in- 

 demnity, are held in its relentless grasp, the Briarean 

 arms crowding faster and faster around, until the 

 victim is ultimately swallowed alive. 



Dr. Johnston remarks, that he had once brought to 

 him a specimen of Actinia crassicornis, that might 

 have been originally two inches in diameter, and that 

 had somehow contrived to swallow a valve of Pecten 

 maximus of the size of an ordinary saucer. The shell, 

 fixed within the stomach, was so placed as to divide it 

 completely into two halves, so that the body, stretched 



